Gary Larson, creator of The front sidehad an opportunity to make readers reconsider the relationship of people with animals, and their place in the natural world. Larson was personally a naturalist; More than just fascinated by the animal world, he believed in protecting and preserving non-human species, a theme that often made its way into The front side in different forms.
It was not that Larson depicted animals as healthy, innocent creatures – far from it, in fact, as he repeatedly produced hilarious cartoons about animals plotting the downfall of humanity, or taking revenge on individual humans. Rather, he sought to undermine humanity’s assumption of their role as the “dominant species” on Earth,
That is to say, humanity tends to be the most outright predatory species depicted in The front sideWith Larson routinely offer examples of humans’ intrusion on the natural world that are both over-the-top and, often, surprisingly poignant.
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The comic from the early far side is the key to unlocking the mind of humanity by Gary Larson
First published: November 26, 1981
Without question, this morning For side Cartoon ranks high among the most thematically impressive that Gary Larson ever produced. In a four-panel sequence, Larson depicts a bear idly drinking from a fountain, then ambushed and shot by a hunter, curling up almost peacefully as the hunter celebrates—and finally, stuffed and preserved in an attack pose, looming over the hunter As he sits and reads a book.
The barely contained subtext to this punchline is that man is absolutely the aggressor here, but wants to frame the shooting of the bear as a triumph over one of nature’s great predators. Again and again, The front side Would feature jokes that derive from the same premise, that humanity is an often violent intruder on the sanctity of nature.
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Gary Larson offers a glimpse into the intellectual life of animals
First published: August 6, 1982
with this For side Comically, Gary Larson subtly makes the argument that humans really know nothing about the interior lives of animals. The joke is that A farmer’s cows and chickens discuss a complex mathematical formula until the farmer enters the barn, at which point they run into “measures” and “clocks.” – but the point Larson is making with this comic, whether intentional or not, is bigger than that.
Cows and chickens are fundamental to human society – and have only become more so as the demand for beef and chicken has soared, and farming has become increasingly industrialized. But in order for this trust to be perpetuated, the inwardness of these animals must be reduced. Here, the fact that they do this of their own accord is comedy with a touch of tragedy to it, like so many great For side Cartoons.
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There is only a thin line between wild and domesticated
First published: June 8, 1983
In another all-time great For side Cartoon about bears, just how tight humanity’s control over some of its domesticated animals – or in the case of bears, occasionally, part-domesticated – actually is. here, A circus bear in training slips free of his muzzle, realizing, “Hey…things just snap right off,“ While exchanging a surprised look with a still-muzzled companion, seemingly precipitating disaster for the trainer teach a third bear to unicycle in the background.
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Again, Larson finds humor in auditing humanity’s assumption of their supremacy over wildlife. Despite acknowledging that they are dangerous animals, people also believe that they can control bears, and in extreme cases, even make them dance – yet another unfair application of power, which The front side Depicts as inevitably leading to some kind of compunction.
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The far side offers a satisfying moment of revenge for the elephant
First published: November 24, 1984
Gary Larson produced many memorable elephant cartoons, with this one being one of the most unequivocally laugh-out-loud. in this For side Panel, a person in his mailbox is Startled by a figure emerging from the shadows – an elephant about to get his long-awaited revenge, after being shot by the man over thirty-five years earlier.
Compositionally, this represents The front side Operating at its highest level, with a hilarious premise that is executed flawlessly in its illustration and its caption. What makes it even more memorable is that it serves as a great example of the many comics where Gary Larson “leveled the playing field,” so to speak, between human predators and their prey.
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Another far side cartoon about the limits of domestication
First published: July 20, 1985
More than one For side Cartoons featured dogs turning on their owners, but here, Gary Larson achieves both a solid punchline and a level of thematic resonance by restricting the canine character to just thinking about it. “That’s it, I’m going to kill him“, the dog things, evidently reaching a breaking point As his owner insists on balancing yet another treat on his nose.
This is another example of Gary Larson projecting interiority onto his animal protagonists; At least some dogs must feel angry to be made tricks for food, Larson seemingly reasoned to arrive at the premise of​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Although this is unlikely to make most dog owners stop teaching their pets how to sit, stay, or roll over, it should at least make them reconsider the internal existence of their dog, whatever it may be.
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Another strong far-side criticism of hunting
First published: December 8, 1986
“Remember, just because he knows, doesn’t mean you have to let him in“, a police officer tells a traumatized deer, as her husband lies dead on their living room floorThe barrel of a hunter’s gun still smoking from the fatal shot. with this For side Panel, Gary Larson calls attention to the fact that hunters, by the nature of their sport, enter the home of another creature and attack them.
Larson does this by making the deer couple live in a human home, a comedic trick he’s used countless times over. The front side Run. “His license does check out, and after all, your husband was on time“, the copy explains, unable to do anything about the blatant murder – in another panel that loudly proclaims Gary Larson’s opinion of hunting.
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This far side panel gives the deer a fighting chance for a change
First published: May 20, 1987
This For side Comic addresses Gary Larson’s criticism of Deer Hunter from a different angle; Instead of emphasizing the wildly unclear power dynamic between hunter and hunted, the cartoon features a man and a deer who have decided to “Solve it the old-fashioned way,“With a hand-to-foot brawl.
In a twisted take on the maxim “never bring a knife to a gun fight,” Larson Depicts the hunter throwing away his gun while the deer hilariously throws its antlers. As odd as this is, it’s also a crucial detail, as it emphasizes the disparity in lethality between the two. To whatever extent there may be a level playing field between animal and human combatants, this For side Comedian finds comedy in the very concept.
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The Chicken Uprising is delayed another day in this brilliant Far Side comic
First published: February 1, 1988
Of course, the punchline of this For side Cartoon rests on a stupid word – when the leader of a crowd of weapon-wielding chickens He finds his posse hesitating when they reach the front door of the first man on the chopping block’s house, it asks, “Why is it that the revolution always gets so far, and then everyone just chickens?”
But this is the context in which Gary Larson placed the word play, his decision to make this about a “Revolution“, in contrast to all the other activities that bring this panel to the next level. More than just an obvious joke, it becomes another commentary on the subjugation of certain species, chickens chief among them, at the hands of humanity. Silliness aside, the Loss of chickens as livestock would be revolutionary for human society, and that is what Gary Larson implicitly states here.
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Another front side ambush questions the morality of duck hunting
First published: February 21, 1990
One thing For side Readers quickly acclimated to the reappearance of the same or similar premises over the years, as Gary Larson often sought to capture the same idea on the page repeatedly, in varying forms. This is another For side Panel that Challenges hunters to enter their prey territory, by featuring an animal living in a human home that is ambushed by an intruder.
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In the comic, one of The front side Many ducks innocently tries to make his way back to his bedroom from the kitchen with some late-night pit about to be shot in his own living room. “Raymond, fighting insomnia“As the duck is described,”Never seen the duck blind“, i.e., an artificial growth of swamp gas in the corner of the living room, with a shotgun sticking out of it.
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Gary Larson makes the case that there is “much, much more” to animals than humans than is believed
First published: November 22, 1991
In this fun For side cartoon, an ostrich sitting in a crowded bar complains that it is “Much, much more” Like the dictionary definition of its species, if only people would take the time to get to know it. This is certainly strange, but it also strikes a sharp note for those who recognize Gary Larson’s naturalistic sympathies in the premise.
Here, Larson slyly argues that the more humans learn about wildlife, the more they come to emphasize the “LiveThat is, people should be aware of the fact that all the animals on earth are living beings, and that they must exist alongside, rather than above. For side Panel more than just funny on the surface, but also deeply, if obliquely, relevant as a social critique.